Woman accuses mayor in sexting scandal

BAYONNE, N.J. (WPIX) — Stacie Percella said her former boss and Bayonne's Mayor Jimmy Davis has been sending her salacious text messages about her body and sex, and allegedly pressed her to go away with him on secret getaways.

She said she tried to ignore the advances for years, but recently decided to go public with it because she heard the mayor was spreading rumors about her.

"I came out because he was saying lies that someone stole his phone and texted me all those messages," she said.

"Speaking of other ends that's what I want from you!" one message she provided read. "You have and always did have a great other 'end'!"

"Love that a**," stated another one.

In a statement, Davis did not deny that he sent the messages, instead calling them "nothing but harmless, playful banter between two adults."

Both Percella and Davis confirm they have been friends since childhood and nothing physical ever happened between them. They are both married with children. Percella said the messages have made her uncomfortable for years.

"Someone in that degree of power shouldn't be saying those things to his employees," Percella said.

Percella and Davis have long worked together as city employees. Percella worked in the health department and later the department of public works, while Davis was a police officer before being elected mayor in 2014.

"The release of these text messages is part of an orchestrated campaign to make millions of dollars off of Bayonne taxpayers and destroy Mayor Davis' reputation," the mayor said in a statement.

Percella has a separate lawsuit already pending against the city over alleged harassment by two former city employees.

After 17 years on the job, she was fired in December. She calls the termination wrongful and political, while the mayor's team insists she was fired "because of her workplace behavior, which would be unacceptable for any public employee."

Because of the ongoing litigation, Percella did not want to state anything further on the record regarding the lawsuit.

"The lawsuit was a prior administration. It has nothing to do with the Jimmy Davis campaign or administration, at all. Jimmy would settle it if I did something," she said. "Sexually."